I commited a sin and payed for it.
Instead of using the practice lap as intended, (to give us a chance to see what the course is like) I was going too fast for a turn. I went into the turn with the expectation of passing a C rider. Well I ran out of talent and my machine hooked up and flipped over. I pushed off and ejected myself so my quad would not land on me. My shoulder guard on my chest protector must have hit the ground first and in such a way that when I came down it jammed into my right shoulder. Seminole took me out almost 2 years ago. Broke my right collar bone and some nerve damage to my left leg. So I am on the ground thinking "Great. Here we go again."
This is where the members of FTR shine. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO STOPPED! I think it was Jimmy Benton who was there right away. I rememer seeing Luis, but I was seeing stars and didn't want to let on taht I was injured. Between them and everyone else who stopped, they helped me up and righted my quad. They showed me my steering stem was bent and so were the handle bars. I rented a helmet cam, but didn't have it hooked up for practice, so no good crash caught on tape
hehehe-that was the second thing Jimmy asked!
I had the paramedics check to see if my collar bone was broken. They said they didn't think so, but I should get an x-ray.
So after the race I went to the hospital (what a nightmare) and had an x-ray taken. Sure as heck, a hairline fracture in my shoulder. I knew something had to be broken. Everytime I hit the throttle the machine the reaction was not fun for the craked bone.
I asked the announcer during the riders meeting to ask if anyone had an extra stem. He put the word out over the loud speaker and Tony Pitts spoke up. THANK YOU TONY!!
I swapped it out and lined up. In my hurriedness, I didn't hit the record button as I was supposed to, so nothing I can share from that point of view. Sorry, PAUL!#8VET
FTR members are the BEST!
p.s. On the flip side, about the guy in the canal. When I came on that scene I first saw the belly of the machine. Then I saw two heads sticking out of the water struggling to hold it up. The rider did not appear to be hurt, but I stopped to at least try to help. My shoulder screamed when I tried to pull it up the bank. A senior rider came up and my quad was blocking the trail and he had the nerve to scream at me. Nice. Thanks for helping out whoever you are. I know that piece of wood that you were not going to get because you were so far back from your class is SOOOO important to you. More important than helping out in a bad situation. You are a real class act. I know he is not the only one who just rode right on by. How sad.
Dude, that was you that passed me. The slide you were in at the corner looked awesome till your biked flipped. Man, you went flying. I was glad to see you get up. It sucks your shoulder is cracked. Hope it heals quickly.
Ken
